9 Nov 24th–Nov 30th, 2022 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | Controversial Cleanups Phoenix develops new protocols as it plans to restart sweeps of downtown homeless encampment. BY KATYA SCHWENK T he city of Phoenix, with police and human services providers in tow, is gearing up to restart the controversial cleanups of its largest homeless encamp- ment as soon as December. For unsheltered people living in the Zone, the cleanups conjure up memories of personal property — includingmedical paperwork and sleeping bags — being thrown away. The sweeps were paused earlier this year after scrutiny and resis- tance to them reached a breaking point. The city has been drafting plans that it hopes will address previous concerns when it starts what it calls “enhanced” sweeps sometime next month. A formal start date has not been set and the city hasn’t made details of its plans public. But draft protocols for the sweeps were presented in an ongoing lawsuit over the Zone and obtained by Phoenix New Times. The cleanups will be a joint effort between the city and the Human Services Campus, which houses various service providers in the area. The new protocols are similar to previous iterations of the cleanups. According to the city’s draft plans, its streets team and police will shut down roads in sections. People in each area will be asked to move all of their belongings and human services providers will help them if they are not able to do so on their own. Unsheltered people will wait in a holding area while the city’s cleaning team power washes and sweeps the area. Then, they will be allowed to resettle. In past cleanups, the process took hours. Scott Hall, the director of the city’s Office of Homeless Solutions, confirmed in an interview with New Times that the plans, while not yet final, represent “a good summary of the intention” for the cleanups. “We don’t have an exact date yet. We are making sure that the many moving parts are in place prior to getting going with the cleanups,” Hall said. “We’ve done several town halls with folks that are currently unsheltered in the area. We’ve had a lot of community meetings with the neighborhood.” Amy Schwabenlender, the executive director of the Human Services Campus, declined to comment in an email to New Times. “Because these are draft documents shared in a court case and no final decision has been made, we will not be commenting,” she explained. Sweeps Were Highly Controversial The Zone, a downtown encampment just a few blocks from Arizona’s manicured statehouse lawn, has grown significantly over the last several years. People have lived on the streets in the area for decades, but only recently have they camped here semipermanently. Through several brutal summers, the Zone has remained. The number of people living in the area has reached more than 1,000 by some esti- mates. Most sidewalks in the area are blocked by tents and other living struc- tures. Limited bathroom facilities and dumpsters contribute to human excre- ment, trash, and drug paraphernalia on the streets, as neighbors explained in a recent court hearing. Before January 2022, the city conducted large-scale cleanups in the Zone three times a week. In the early morning hours on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, police and city staff would arrive at the encampment. Unsheltered people living in the area were forced to move their belong- ings while the streets were cleaned. What wasn’t moved was often seized or thrown away, according to many people who have lived through the cleanups. The practice was highly controversial, and it was one of the reasons the U.S. Department of Justice began its probe into the Phoenix Police Department. In its initial announcement, the DOJ said it would be investigating “whether PhxPD unlawfully seizes or disposes of the belong- ings of individuals experiencing homelessness.” Several months after the DOJ probe was announced in August 2021, the city paused the mass cleanups in the Zone. It still conducts cleanings of the roadways but does not regularly require anyone to move their tents. In late October, Hall said in court that the city stopped the cleanups after resis- tance from some residents, who refused to move their tents when police arrived. “We paused to make sure we were doing every- thing safely and appropriately,” he said. Hall also claimed to New Times that the city wasn’t aware that property had been thrown away. “We haven’t had any reports of people’s stuff being taken and thrown away that I’m aware of, at least on the city end,” Hall said. “But we believe this new process will give ample time for people to identify their property.” Elizabeth Venable, an organizer with the Fund for Empowerment, which works closely with people living in the Zone, called that claim “disrespectful.” She has spoken with dozens of people whose prop- erty was lost or destroyed during the cleanups when they weren’t able to move their belongings or were away from the encampment, she said. Cappy Maatsch, who lived full-time in the Zone for much of 2021, told New Times that in July, she went to the hospital due to issues with her hip. By the time she returned, the city had thrown away her belongings, she said. Frank Urban, another organizer with the Fund for Empowerment, said unsheltered people in an encampment in Sunnyslope lost belongings in cleanups while he lived there and he’s also talked with | NEWS | Matt Hennie Signs in the Zone warn of cleanups before the sweeps were stopped in January. ‘Let It Be Done’ Arizona executed Murray Hooper, who was the third person put to death in six months. BY KATYA SCHWENK T he state of Arizona executed Murray Hooper on November 1. He was convicted of a 1980 double murder in Phoenix in a case tainted by allegations of police misconduct. Hooper was pronounced dead at 10:33 a.m. at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, bringing to a close his 39 years on death row. The sprawling facility, which looks out on the barren desert, is where the state has been carrying out its executions. Arizona paused executions for eight years after the botched death of Joseph Wood in 2014. Hooper is the third person to be executed since May. Hooper died by lethal injection before the eyes of reporters and lawyers. No one from the families of Pat Redmond and Helen Phelps — whom Hooper was convicted of killing — was present at the execution, according to officials with the Arizona Department of Corrections. Hooper’s family was notified, but they were “out of state” and did not attend, ADOC spokesperson Judy Keane said. Mike Redmond, the son of Pat Redmond, told Phoenix New Times in an email that the loss of his father is still felt deeply, but that the family did not want to be part of the execution. “Right now I feel for my dad; my step- mother, Marylin; and her mom, Mrs. Phelps,” he said. “We thought this was all behind us. I don’t celebrate Hooper’s death. But I won’t or didn’t oppose it. He made choices in his life that were bad and led to New Year’s Eve 1980.” “Forty-two years later, and we are dealing with our father’s death again. I thought it was all past us,” Redmond added. He said he didn’t expect the day to arrive. “It is hard to understand right now. Just glad it is all over, and maybe everyone can finally be at peace,” he explained. Three journalists — Mark Curtis of Channel 12 News, Bob Christie from the Associated Press, and Colton Krolak of KTAR News — witnessed the execution. At a press conference shortly after Hooper’s death, each described what took place. Hooper, Curtis told reporters, >> p 12 Arizona Department of Corrections Murray Hooper. >> p 11
